Tears
by skerlbe 2
Summary: It started with the nightmares of his teammates dying. Nightmares turned to waking delusions, and delusions turned into a waking nightmare.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Voltron fic :0**

 **First chapter will be vague and short, but more detail will arrive!**

 **To those waiting for the rewrites of "Sanity My Ass, Kaou-kun" and "Two Colours Entwined," (originals written on the account Knife Shoes, link to account is in my bio if u want) do not worry! I'm working on them :3**

 **Also, the title is Tears as in a tear/rip in clothing, not as in crying tears.**

 **Okay, to the story!**

* * *

 _There was a disturbance in the silence; one he just couldn't quite place. The silence grew louder and louder, until finally it came._

 _A scream in the dark, tearing across the black._

 **o**

"Lance, w...up!"

Beady, dark blue eyes jolted open, and the lanky-yet surprisingly toned-body of Lance McClain whipped upright in a seated position. His chest rapidly rose and fell, in an almost convulsive pattern. He could feel the sticky mess of sweat matting his hair and clothes to his body. He could feel himself shaking through the pressure of hands gripping his shoulders.

"Lance, _snap out of it_ , what the hell is wrong with you!?"

Deep sea blue orbs scrolled over to lock with stormy grey eyes. The face associsted with those eyes melded into shape and registered in Lance's mind.

"K... eith...?" he choked out.

"Yeah, man..." Keith Kogane offered an unnaturally sympathetic look. "Were you havin' a nightmare or something? We could hear you screaming from the bridge..."

"Um..." Lance muttered. Was he? All he could remember was darkness and pain. Unending, ceaseless agony. But even the memory of that was fuzzy.

"Lance?"

Lance just shook his head. "I don't know..." he responded quietly, "I don't..." the Blue Paladin sighed. "Never mind, 's not like it matters to you anyway." He swung his legs to the side and stood up, shaking the numbness of his sleeping legs off. "Let's go get breakfast."

 **x**

Lance's stomach had little food in ingesting food, but rather expelling previously digested food. He ate slowly, the acids and degraded sustenances swirling and crying to be regurgitated.

"Lance, man, you're so slow this morning." Lance looked up at Tsuyoshi Garett, nicknamed "Hunk," as he spoke. "You okay?

"Mmn, yeah," the Blue Paladin answered, "just fine."

"Your screams tell a different story." Lance's attention then went to Pidge Gunderson. "We could h–"

"Hear me from the bridge, _I know_ ," Lance snapped, "stop telling me things I already know."

"Sorry..." Pidge muttered. She ***** stood up, taking her plate. "I'm going to the bridge with Coran and Allura to see where we're headed next." After bringing her plate to the kitchen to be cleaned, she left for the bridge.

"I'm gonna go back to bed..." Lance muttered. He stood up, adding, "I feel like I only slept five minutes..." he deprted the dining room, the eyes of the Yellow, Red, and Black Paladins watching him suspiciously.

* * *

 ***Pidge is canonically a girl, but this is revealed pretty soon in the show so I don'tneven know why I'm talking about that.. :0**

 **I like the headcanon that a lot of people have, stating that Pidge Gunderson is non-binary (genderless, demi-gender...), but I kind of also like the idea of Pidge not really caring about what pronouns she is called. So I'll just be using her canon pronouns for now, though I might switch it up in some fics.**

 **ADDITIONAL NOTE: I'm using the last names/full names of the characters from the 1984 cartoon Voltron: Defenders of the Universe, due to the fact that characters such as Lance, Keith and Hunk haven't had their last/full names revealed in Voltron: Legendary Defender (yet?).**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2, here we goooo!**

 **Shit's probably going to be confusing for a bit, sorry**

* * *

Lance's eyes locked with a bland ceiling as the gears in his mind ceaselessly turned.

 _Screaming, screaming. Why would I be screaming?_ he thought, _there's no reason for it... is there?_

Lance shook his head. There wasn't a reason for him to be screaming. Of course he dreamt—albeit he failed to remeber what happened—last night, but Keith had said the word _nightmare **.**_ He hadn't had a nightmare, had he? Perhaps he–

 _Knock, knock._

Lance looked over to the door as it opened. In walked Takashi "Shiro" Shirogane, the Black Paladin, with a rather concerned on his face. "Jeez, could you like, I dunno, ask before barging in?"

"This is important, Lance," Shiro answered, "I need to talk to you." He walked closer to the younger male, who sat up from his laying position and shuffled back to the corner of his bed. Shiro sat on the edge of the bed, watching the boy. "You've been acting so strangely this morning. If there's anything you need to talk abo–"

"I'm fucking _fine_ , okay!?" Lance snapped, "quit buggin' me about it already! I'm perfectly, just tired."

Shiro hadn't recoiled at all as his teammate yelled. "Lance..." he sighed, "you obviously aren't okay... just..."

Nothing. Lance's sense of hearing slowly faded out, and all he could see was the moving of his leader's pale lips. But even his vision faded out, and there was nothing but darkness.

 **o**

"Where am I...?" Lance muttered to himself. He looked around in the darkness, seeing only swirls of colour around him. Whirlpools of red, yellow, green, and purple. All colours that matched Keith, Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro's colour assignments. "What the-!?" The whirlpools grew in size, melting together at the sides. They enveloped the darkness, blinding Lance in the process.

"What the hell is going on!?"

 **o**

Lance's eyes jolted open, revealing his teammates in the midst of battle.

"LANCE, FOCUS!"

The Blue Paladin whipped around at the whim of Shiro's cry, seeing a Galra soldier charging towards him with his sword ready to impale his enemy. "Not a problem for Team Voltron's ace sharpshooter!" he smirked, his cocky attitude showing. He reached down, awaiting his Bayard to form in his hand.

But it never did.

"Huh!? What th–" Lance had no time to finish expressing his shock as he was tackled to the ground by the Galra soldier. "Shit!"

The Galra soldier reeled his arm back, the tip of the sword pointed at his left eye. But the soldier was ripped off of him just as quickly as he'd mounted him. Lance watched as Keith–who was evidently the one who saved him–struggled against the soldier. Everything was a blur, and the only things in the tanned male's senses were Shiro's yelling and the images of Keith getting impaled through the heart.

 **o**

"Lance. Lance!"

Lance let out a scream, one that ripped from his throat against his will. His hands flew up and held his head, and panic began to rush through his veins. He felt a pressuring grip on his shoulders, but had to take a moment to recognize the face in front of him.

"Lance, are you alright!?" hearing was rushing back into his list of functional senses, "what's wrong!?"

The teen was overcome by silence and shock. What did he just see? There was fighting, and Lance being unableto summon his Bayard... then there was Keith...

" _Keith_ ," Lance whispered. Without another word the boy pushed the older male away and sprang out of bed, rushing out of the room. As he ran, he could hear a confused Shiro calling after him.

 **x**

Lance ran through the castle, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Keith was literally _impaled_ by one of the Galra soldiers. Right? That was real?

It _seemed_ real, at least. Frighteningly real, down to the smell of blood that haunted Lance's nose after the images faded. Keith _had_ to be alive.

Lance skidded around the corner, crashing into another body and falling to the ground on top of said body.

"Jeez, Lance, watch it! What the hell is your problem, anyway!?"

Lance sat up, his rear resting on the body's stomach. Coming into focus were cross, stormy eyes that reflected the temperamental flares of the Red Lion. "Keith! Oh, man, what the hell!? I saw you get impaled in a battle, and–"

"Slow down, Lance," Keith sat upright, his rival-esque teammate still sitting on his lap. "You saw me get _what_?"

"Impaled!" Lance cried, "my Bayard wouldn't form and I got jumped by a Galra soldier, but you ripped the guy off me and got stabbed—" He pointed a shaky at Keith's heart"—right here!" More than his finger shook; his whole body was wracked with trembles.

"Lance, calm down," Keith put his hands on the other male's shoulders, "I'm alive, I'm not a Galra-human shishkabob."

Lance eyed Keith for a moment, skeptical. "But... I... saw you..." he inhaled shakily, "I _saw_ you... I-I could _smell_ the blood..."

"Lance..." Keith mumbled as the sounds of footsteps echoed through the halls. The two boys looked to the corner Lance had come from to see Shiro, accompanied by the Altean Princess Allura.

"Lance, there you are!" the Black Paladin cried, "what were you thinking, running off like that!?"

Before Lance could respond, Allura's eyes lit up. "You're sitting on him! Are you two–"

"NO!" Lance and Keith both cried. Keith pushed Lance off of him and scrambled to his feet. "It's not like that!" Keith was spluttering.

"Sure, whatever," Allura giggled, before straightening up and regaining a serious composure. "In all seriousness, what _were_ you two doing?"

"Lance started rambling on about me getting impaled or something..." Keith explained.

"Keith, just shut up," Lance grumbled, "it's not important..."

Keith continued on anyway. "Basically, he had one of those nightmares where it's really hard to tell if it was a dream or not. He'll be fine."

"Perhaps you should get some rest, then, Lance," Allura suggested, "it will do you well."

"I _was_ gonna go back to sleep, before Mr. Black Paladin came barging in," Lance growled in response.

"I was only checking on you," Shiro retorted, "it's my responsibility as your leader–"

"Yeah, yeah, cool story, bro," Lance began heading back to his room, waving his hand in the air to signify that he was dismissing everything that Shiro said. "Wake me up in a few hours, I guess..."

As he walked away from Keith, Shiro and Allura, he could feel a growing weight in his gut. Just a dream, huh? It couldn't have been... could it? Sure, Keith was still alive and showed no signs whatsoever of having been impaled recently, but _still_. It felt so much more _real_ than that.

* * *

 **Jfc, what is it with me and like,, having stories go in completely different ways than I want them to?**

 **THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME, RIP ME**

 **Anyway, hope you're all enjoying this so far! I hope my writing isn't too shitty, ahaha**


	3. Chapter 3

**I WAS SUPPOSED TO UPDATE LAST FUCKIN' WEEK AND I DIDN'T**

 **I AM SORRY**

 **I'VE BEEN WORKING ON SHIT ON WATTPAD AND I'VE BEEN UNINSPIRED AND**

 **YIKES**

 **EXCUSES**

 **ANYWAY**

 **ENJOY**

* * *

Lance stood silently in the training room, his knuckles turning white and his Bayard drenched in sweat. He'd figured that training would help him keep his mind off of... _that_. But it didn't. No matter how hard he trained (instead of sleeping, like he'd said he would), his mind would always wander and cause him to get his ass kicked by a level one training bot.

He was _exhausted_. His muscles felt heavy and numb. But he wanted distraction. He _needed_ distraction. As the bot disappeared, Lance straightened himself up and—barely even aware he was speaking—grumbled out tiredly, "begin training sequence level four."

He'd meant to say one.

With little warning, the bot reappeared and began attacking without relent. Lance scurried out of the way, and allowed his Bayard to take its form as an Energy Rifle. He held the weapon up to shoot. However, he wasn't fast enough. The bot charged him and swung its arm, punching Lance hard in the jaw. Lance stumbled backwards, rubbing the lower half of his head. He narrowly avoided another hit to the head, but as he backed away from the bot and raised his weapon to shoot, he froze. His senses became engulfed in darkness, and an image soon faded in.

 _Keith's corpse, surrounded by Galra soldiers._

Lance went pale as he eyed the scene. The soldiers were going to _destroy_ Keith's body. The Cuban tried to lunge towards the soldiers, screaming for them to get away from Keith. But he tripped, landing face first on the floor. Shaking, he lifted his head. But the image was gone, replaced by the training room and a victorious bot that loomed over him.

"End training sequence, _end training sequence_ , _END TRAINING SEQUENCE_!" Lance screamed as the bot raised its weapon to finish him off. His words were indistinguishable by the system, coming out of his mouth as only hysterical garble. As the Blue Paladin curled up on the floor (in a panicking, hysterical mess), a deep voice boomed through the room.

"END TRAINING SEQUENCE!"

Footsteps, followed by a thud. "Lance, man, are you okay!? What the hell happened!?"

 _Hunk._

Lance looked up at Hunk, seeing the utmost of fear and worry in his eyes. "H-Hunk..." he whispered.

"What's wrong, man?" Hunk asked. He helped the Cuban boy to sit up. "You're so shaky... and didn't you tell us you were going to bed?"

"I can't sleep with nightmares like _that_ , Hunk!" Lance cried, "do you _know_ what I've seen in my dreams..." his voice trailed off.

"So, you _were_ having nightmares!" Hunk reached over and put his hands on his fellow Paladin's shoulders. "Why didn't you admit it earlier!?"

"... forget I said anything," Lance quickly responded, "just... just leave it be, alright?"

"Lance–"

"I said let it be!" Lance snapped. He glared up at Hunk, making the latter recoil a bit in fear.

"... sorry, man... just..." Hunk sighed, "don't lie about where you're going next time... okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Lance grumbled. He slowly forced himself to stand, then staggered out of the training room.

 **x**

The lunch table was painfully awkward. Lance picked at his food, feeling the weight of the team's stares hit him from ever angle. There were even a few whispers, which Lance could easily tell were mostly between Shiro and Allura. He could hear the mention of his name a few times, along with Allura ending her and Shiro's conversation with "I'll talk to him when lunch is over..."

Shiro nodded and stood up. "I'm going to head to the training room. Anyone who wants to join me, feel free." He left.

"Maybe I'll go with h–"

"No, Lance." Allura pushed Lance down by the shoulders as he tried to stand. "Finish your lunch first."

"But–ugh..." Lance muttered, watching the other Paladins as they scrambled off to the training room.

Well, all of the Paladins except one. Keith remained at the table, seated next to Lance with a surprisingly concerned expression on his face.

"Lance," Allura said, "you shou–"

"Don't tell me to leave, Allura..." Keith cut her off, "I want to know what's going on..."

"Keith, it's really n–"

"Don't give me that _goddamn_ 'nothing' business, Lance, or else I'll paddle your ass with Pidge's Bayard."

Lance slunk down into his seat, silencing himself before Keith could spit an extension to his threat.

"Keith, that isn't helping," Allura grumbled. She then turned to Lance. "Now, Lance... I want you to tell us everything."

Lance looked up at Allura, whose expression was simply concerned with a lacing of patience. He then looked to Keith, whose eyes were—as usual—a ridiculous, unreadable mess. The Cuban sighed and began to explain, though he did so only through mutters. "I... I've been having nightmares... but... it's not like your _typical_ nightmare..."

"I _knew_ it!" Keith cried, "Lance, you _l_ _ied_ to us!"

Allura placed a gentle hand on Lance's shoulder. Lance looked up at her to see her glaring Keith down.

The Cuban sight, "you know what, never mind..." he stood up, brushing the princess' hand off. "Maybe it's better off if we don't talk about it yet..." and with his shoulders sagging, back slumped and eyes to the floor, he trudged off to his room once more with heavy legs and a nauseated feeling he couldn't shake off.

* * *

 **OKAY, I KNOW THE CHAPTER SEEMS LACKLUSTRE TO SAY THE LEAST**

 **I'LL COME BACK AND EDIT IT IN THE FUTURE, SO I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I DO THAT :0**


End file.
